Just in case anyone thinks the London Olympics have the exclusive on sporting social media, Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden still has messages from Beijing in 2008 that he yet to answer.

But the social media spotlight hovers over the London Games like the Bat Signal. And given the availability of so many Olympic sports on so many platforms, there’s plenty to say.

Social media also allows friends, families and others to reach out to Olympians.

In bygone years, elite athletes lived in an Olympic bubble that stretched from the athletes village to their venue. That bubble still exists, but now there is an Internet cable that connects them to the world via Twitter, Facebook, as well as email and Skype.

For coaches looking to ensure their charges have their eye on the prize, it’s a double-edged sword.

“On the one hand it’s a bit of a distraction from the pressures and the demands and the chaos,” said Mitch Geller, chief technology officer for Diving Canada. “There’s also a lot of time on your hands that you have to fill that you don’t normally fill. And so they can converse — in their new way of conversing, of course, with no capitals — with friends and so on.

“On the other hand, it can become a little bit too distracting too. They’re competing to see who gets more followers. That kind of thing. We’re actually hearing that a number of our athletes are now kind of just saying ‘You know what, I’ve had enough of Facebook. It’s getting a little bit silly.’ . . . They’re just finding it’s overload. And some of them are just shutting it down.

“They still do their tweeting and stuff,” he added.

Rowing Canada high performance director Peter Cookson says his athletes are too busy before races to tweet. It takes a while to prepare the boat and get to the starting line let alone put on a game face.

But Cookson, who says he finds Twitter and such a distraction, says the creeping vines of social media can add to the stress of a multi-Games environment like the Olympics.

“You try to prepare them the best you can because it’s a totally different environment,” he said. “We don’t get microphones stuck into our faces very often and for them it’s like ‘Wow,’ this is different from what they’re used to.

“There’s pressure. There’s more people actually sending them messages, with social media and things, they’re getting a lot more attention. I think it’s really hard to prepare them totally for it.”

Rower Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont., talked of all the messages he got from friends and family before the first heat of the men’s eight, excited that he was finally going to race. The boat finished last, with his disappointment amplified by all people who had been looking forward to the race.

There was a happy ending in that the eight bounced back to win silver. Most of the Canadian men stuck to themselves in between.

“We weren’t checking the Internet after our first race,” McCabe said later with a chuckle.

Like Cookson, Geller says his divers are too busy getting ready to compete to tweet.

“Once they get to the pool, the venue, it’s all business,” said Geller. “Their phones are somewhere else. We don’t have to make those rules.”

And yet, Emelie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., was on Twitter, encouraging fans to watch mere minutes before climbing the board for her first dive “. . .pour la premiere medaille du Canada??? Houuuu!!!”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, perhaps. Heymans and synchro diving partner Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que., won bronze for Canada’s first medal of the Games.

Unable to sleep that night, the two kept at Twitter.

“I love the feedback,” Abel said the next day. “I think last night I read everything that was on my Twitter. I’m really happy we can have support from the social websites, it’s really appreciated.”

Added Heymans: “It’s awesome, all the response that we got. The people from home, on Twitter, it’s really crazy. It makes us really feel good.”

Social media can also be a source of support for athletes when they’re dealing with disappointment.

Edmonton triathlete Paula Findlay, who apologized to Canadians after finishing last on Saturday, said her e-mail and Twitter account exploded with people telling her she had no reason to be sorry.

Isolated in a hotel near their venue, it was to each their own for Canadian rowers.

“I thought it was a help, I mean I embraced it,” said Krista Guloien of Port Moody, B.C., a member of the silver medal women’s eight. “I think people who kind of wanted to back off from it could totally do that. That’s a choice, right, and I chose to be a little bit more involved.

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